Case Number 14286

Tokyo Decadence

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All Rise...

Judge William Lee joined a BDSM club thinking it had something to do with Hellboy.

The Charge

"Trust is the key to S&M play. Trust me. I won't hurt you."

Opening Statement

Writer-director Ryu Murakami's Tokyo Decadence (also known by the
title Topâzu) is a social critique of Japanese business culture
dressed up in leather and PVC.

Facts of the Case

Ai (Miho Nakaido, Going Under) is a
timid young woman in Tokyo who works as a call girl for an agency that caters to
S&M customers. Her days are spent sitting in the park, shopping and playing
arcade video games. At night, Ai visits expensive hotels where she plays the
dominatrix or submissive—whichever gets the client off. These kinky
meetings range from the humorously weird to the creepily depraved but they all
involve varying degrees of bondage and humiliation.

The Evidence

The cover to this DVD says it is a "cult classic" and, although I
was unaware of the movie before now, I can understand how it may have caused a
stir when it was initially released in 1992. Even by the standards of today's
jaded viewer, some scenes are quite shocking. It is not a hardcore sex
film, but Tokyo Decadence makes no bones about its subject matter: adults
in fetish clothes involved in sadomasochistic activities. While the camerawork
remains tactful and artistic—what is seen on screen is never
explicit—the direction leaves no doubt as to what the characters are
doing. Admirers of the movie should note, however, that this release from Cinema
Epoch is not the 135-minute cut that is reported on IMDb, despite the claim on
the packaging that it is the "original uncut version."

At the center of the film is Miho Nakaido's enigmatic performance as Ai.
Here is a character so broadly drawn that she is something of a mystery, yet her
small mannerisms suggest such a specific and fragile personality that it's easy
to feel sympathetic toward her. Very little of her history is spelled out for
viewers. We learn that she enjoys working with children and she knows sign
language. Ai doesn't display much enthusiasm for her work, but she also shows
much resilience given the punishment she endures when servicing her clients.
There is the sense that Ai's motivation is equal parts survival (she believes
that she has no real talent) and self-loathing (she is very competent dishing
out and receiving punishment).

The mysterious pain that drives Ai is what makes her so interesting.
Consequently, it is a letdown when a piece of her history emerges: her former
lover is an internationally renowned composer, now married and a father. Surely,
there's more to Ai than simply a broken heart? In the third act of the movie, Ai
goes to a wealthy residential neighborhood in search of her ex-lover.
Unfortunately she is suffering the side effects of a drug her friend has given
her and she wanders through the streets as a drunken mess. The painfully
protracted final act really frustrated my sympathy for Ai. At once, I was both
sad for, and tired of, her predicament. I didn't really expect a happy ending to
this story, but after seeing Ai humiliated by others for much of the movie, it
angered me to see her cause her own unhappiness.

The sex scenes (it's arguable whether that's an accurate description) do
contain some potent erotic energy. But it comes not from an atmosphere of
sensuality, but rather from the anxious imbalance of power and control. Whereas
the bondage play in Secretary was
about those characters attempting to make an intimate connection with each
other, the scenes depicted in Tokyo Decadence are quite the opposite.
Here, the characters seem to prefer dissociation from each other and from the
sex act itself. They may get off from the experience but they are emotionally
numb.

This view of Tokyo is comprised of empty streets in the early morning hours
and penthouse suites situated far above the crowds of humanity. Rendered in blue
steel and glass, barely lit by small pools of light, it feels like a lonely
place for lost souls with dead dreams. The look is essential for maintaining the
mood for this kinky drama and it is unfortunately that it is delivered here in a
substandard transfer. The picture varies from soft to blurry. The colors are
slightly washed out and shadow areas are murky. The mono audio mix adequately
presents the minimalist soundtrack with some atmospheric music.

Although Cinema Epoch has merely reiterated the U.S. cut of the movie, there
are a couple of nice extras on this disc. The stills gallery includes a few
posters and promotional materials. The essay by film critic Nicholas Rucka is an
informative introduction to the movie. On the disappointing side, there is an
eight-minute featurette (the first four minutes are clips from the movie) that
doesn't provide much insight on the film. We see the cast and crew at the wrap
party, the director is briefly interviewed, and in a separate interview we hear
from composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (The
Last Emperor). The Japanese trailer is also included.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Nicholas Rucka's essay, presented as a series of frames with text, talks
about the Japanese socio-economic situation in relation to this story's
creation. Rucka's familiarity with the director's work lets him see this story
as a continuation of his criticism of modern Japanese society. It does put a new
spin on the events of the movie to see Ai not as a single individual but rather
as a symbol for an entire class of people who were let down by their loyalty to
a certain work ethic. It makes sense that a fetishistic movie can be better
appreciated if we dissociate the protagonist from her humanity: it's not a story
about Ai being repeatedly humiliated; it's an allegory for all workers being
humiliated. At any rate, the essay works quite well as an introduction to the
movie.

Closing Statement

Whether you see it as a sex movie with undertones of social commentary or a
social allegory spiced up with perverse sex, Tokyo Decadence is hard to
turn away from for a good two-thirds of its running time. The change of scenery
and direction doesn't feel right with what has gone before it. The disappointing
picture transfer doesn't help matters either.

The Verdict

This disc is guilty. Cinema Epoch, get down on all fours and prepare to take
your punishment.